


Extra Credit

by space_punk



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Still Have Powers, Angst, Bisexual Cisco Ramon, Fluff, M/M, Villain Cisco
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-07
Updated: 2018-04-09
Packaged: 2018-07-12 13:16:29
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 3,647
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7106365
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/space_punk/pseuds/space_punk
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Basically this prompt from swingsetindecember.tumblr.com</p>
<p>where a grad student becomes a supervillain for extra credit since their doctoral committee is lowkey three of the city’s supervillains. and they meet the hero who is cute and charming and idealistic. and damn, extra credit is so not worth this. but damn, grad school is expensive and the job market is competitive </p>
<p>“there’s good in you”</p>
<p>“i really think all that’s in me at this point is ramen, red bull and spite”</p>
<p>Cisco is the grad student, Barry the hero</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

     "Mr. Ramon." Dr. Wells called after class. It had been a long lecture this time, with a lot of focus on an end of semester project. According to him, you could change the world with a school assignment. 

     Anyway, Cisco turned towards him, eyes wide and curious. Dr. Wells had always been his favorite professor, even if most others hated him. After the particle accelerator explosion, teaching was the only field to accept him. In Cisco's mind though, that mistake didn't make him any less brilliant. And technically, he owed Wells one for that. Since it helped him in many ways. "Yeah Doc?" He asked, adjusting the strap on his bag.

     "You know, I have some pull for the doctoral committee. They are very interested in you, but they want to know what you can contribute. How do you feel about extra credit?"

     Well, to be honest, Cisco was always a slut for extra credit.

\--

     And in retrospect, he shouldn't have agreed. Definitely not. This was insane. This is what crazy people did. Cisco wasn't a crazy person. Sure, he had anxiety, but he was a grad student. That was to be expected. Everyone had anxiety. Not everyone decided to rob a bank to get in good with their teacher. And yet, here he was casually walking around in those weird goggles, and a black trench coat. Who the hell wore those? And in the summer? Ridiculous. But damn, Cisco would do anything for extra credit, and apparently both his professor and the doctoral committee were all super villains. Great. Of course. He could have gone to MIT, but no. He had to pick the school with _super villains_ in places of power. So now he was standing in a bank, looking incredibly suspicious. 

     Cisco had no idea why no one was stopping him, but he managed to get up to the teller's window and slide her the note. You know, _the note,_ that essentially said "Give me all the money you can." And at first, she thought it was a prank. Of course she did. Cisco wasn't actually armed, and he looked like he was going to ComicCon with the way he was dressed. Hell, she almost smiled, but Cisco didn't want this to go too far and accidentally hurt someone. So he made an example of a potted plant to scare everyone. He made sure the teller was watching and he lifted a hand, aiming directly at the plant. And he let loose with a blast of vibration that essentially turned the plant into rubble. She cooperated after that.

     Cisco left that bank with a few dozen thousand dollars, and no dye packs or trackers. He stopped the girl every time she tried to give him one, even when she was in another room, obviously out of his line of sight. Vibing helped when you wanted to keep an eye on someone from afar, it really did. And he ran until he couldn't see the bank anymore, taking back alleys and side streets. He ditched the goggles and stuffed them in his coat pocket immediately. Transferred the money to a backpack, along with the dumbass coat. Now he was just in jeans and a tee shirt, as usual. 

     Little did he know that he changed just in time. If he had been paying more attention, he would have noticed the red blur shooting past him as he walked to the phone booth. He might have even gotten a Vibe or two. As it was, he just stepped into the booth and reported in, none the wiser that he had almost been caught.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Two separate meetings.

      Dr. Wells was very pleased with Cisco, and as much as he tried to pretend that didn't thrill him, it did. The guy was still a legend, albeit apparently evil. To have someone like that compliment you was awesome, even if it was about theft. 

      Cisco had hit three more banks, and right after his first job he became aware of the red blur. The next three were more rushed, but he always got out in time. He always managed to Vibe the superhero before he showed up. He kept getting away with it. 

      This last job was frantic though. He had gotten out literal milliseconds before he would have been caught. Nervewracking was an understatement. He needed to feel normal again, so he dropped the money off where they had agreed and walked to the nearest coffeeshop. Jitters was a little too crowded for what he normally preferred, but it would do. 

      He was inside the shop for about twenty seconds, looking up at the menu, when someone ran into him. Cisco stumbled back and turned to glare at whatever hipster motherfucker didn't watch where they were going. 

      He was left facing an extremely adorable, extremely apologetic guy, frantically babbling as he tried to figure out what to do. Eventually Cisco just laughed and shook his head. 

     "Listen, man, it's fine. Its what, nine in the morning? I usually  wouldn't be awake right now. And you didn't spill anything. So no harm no foul, right?" He said, pushing his hair back out of his face. 

      The cute guy smiled sheepishly at him and nodded, still looking guilty. "Ah, jeez. Can I...shit I feel bad though. Can I buy you a coffee to make up for it?" He asked hopefully. 

      Well he certainly wasn't going to turn that down. "Alright then. Sounds fair. I'm Cisco by the way."

      "Hi Cisco. I'm Barry." He smiled, shaking his hand and gesturing to the list of drinks. "Dealer's choice. But just so you know, "The Flash" is really good. My personal favorite."

     "What like the blurry superhero?" Cisco snorted, hiding his agitation. 

     "Yeah. Exactly like that."

\--

     Cisco went home with Barry's phone number, and though he was cute, he had no real intention of calling. Barry was sweet, and deserved better than some supervillain pawn. He didn't deserve the craziness of Cisco's life. 

      A few days later and Cisco's luck ran out just a bit. He wasn't fast enough getting out and the blurry hero caught up to him. He was shoved into the wall of the bank as the customers left and secretly he was thankful. A fight like this could get people hurt. 

     He looked up at the Scarlet Speedster through his visor. He had modified it to cover over half of his face, so he had no chance of being recognized. Anyway, back to the story.

     "Wow, nice to finally meet you." Cisco said, straightening up and putting on a cocky grin. "I was beginning to think you had taken a vacation or something. Oh well. Fourth time's the charm. More or less."

     "Give up. You're outmatched and you know it." The Flash commanded, his voice vibrating to disguise it. Clever. 

     Cisco shrugged, looking to all the world to be casual and untroubled. "Oh yeah. I guess you caught me. See, thing is, I really need this money. People to pay, you know. I mean technically my entire life depends on this."

     "Cool motive. Still illegal." The Flash shot back, pacing in front of him. 

     "Hey, I never hurt anyone! I make sure no one attacks me so that I don't have to hurt them. I'm not a villain. Just....just morally flexible." Cisco offered, pressing one hand against the wall to his back and reaching for his power. 

     "Just surrender then, if you don't want to hurt anyone."

     Cisco sighed as if defeated, allowing the Speedster to relax a bit before he blew a hole in the wall and threw sonic vibrations at the Flash. The combination allowed Cisco to dart into a nearby restroom and change. His heart pounding in his chest, he straightened his hair.

     That was close. Way too fucking close. He could have gotten arrested. This was so not worth extra credit. But that rush he got, facing someone down for once. That was worth it. All the way. 


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The boys deserve nice things

Cisco had been given a merciful break from both school and his....extra curricular activities, at the expense of his self esteem. It was his parents' anniversary, so he had taken a long weekend to go home. Caitlin hadn't been able to come with him this time, and he had had to face his family with no one. So he was understandably in a terrible mood, and looking for something to cheer him up. This is what led him to fishing Barry's phone number out of his sweatshirt pocket and calling him, just a coffee date that Sunday. 

     It wasn't a big deal. That's what he kept telling himself. He was just going to get coffee with a cute guy, and there would be no supervillains or anything interrupting them. So he wasn't nervous. He was just trying on every shirt he owned for fun. That's all. After half a fucking hour of this, he settled on a pair of black jeans, his favorite gray scarf, and a vintage looking Flash t-shirt. He had bought it ironically, but it was fucking comfortable. He headed out the door later than he had planned, and he cursed quietly as he caught a cab to Jitters.

     Turns out he didn't need to worry about tardiness, since Barry rushed through the door five minutes later than him and twelve minutes after they were both supposed to be there. His hair looked like he had just run through a wind tunnel, and if you used your imagination you could smell his sneakers burning. Cisco had to try hard not to laugh as he stood up to greet him. 

     "Hey, shit, sorry I'm late. I'm always late, please don't take it personally." Barry told him, laughing quietly at himself as they both sat down. Cisco had chosen a table far away from the main chaos of the cafe, so it was more private.

     "I know what you mean, traffic is a bitch." Cisco responded, glancing up as their coffee arrived. "I hope you don't mind me ordering your drink for you, you said you liked the Flash drink, right?"

     "You remembered?" He asked, looking genuinely touched by that. He quickly went back into casual mode though, pointing at Cisco's shirt. "I didn't even know they sold Flash shirts! That's fucking hilarious. Sorry. I'm not making fun of your outfit, I swear."

     He snorted, shaking his head at Barry. "Don't worry, I kind of bought it as a joke I have with my professor, sort of. But it's so soft, and I got attached. Not that you can blame me. Feel it."

     The other boy did, his grin getting even wider, eyes lighting up with his own inside joke. "Shit you're right. What's that made of?"

     "Boyfriend material." Cisco blurted out before he could stop himself. He immediately buried his face in his hands, face darkening in a blush. "Shit. Shit, just kill me. That was so fucking cheesy. I can't believe I just gave you a fifth grade pick up line. You're worth at least an eighth grade pick up line. I am so sorry."

     Barry had burst into disbelieving laughter, covering his mouth so he wasn't too loud. "I don't even know what to say, Cisco. That was....That was the best and worst thing you could have said to me. Oh my god that was adorable."

     He joined in the laughter at his expense, shaking his head. "I dunno what that was. I'm really sorry, but hey, at least you know the date can't get any worse." He offered, smiling sheepishly up at him. 

     After that, the date actually went great. They talked about everything under the sun, even their families, which were usually sensitive for both of them. He was able to bitch about Dante and his parents, and Barry could express the awkwardness of his situation. It was cathartic.

     Cisco left the cafe with a feeling of elation and dinner plans with the cutest guy he had met in a while.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took so long, but fluff kind of makes up for it??


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everything is going pretty good.

Dinner had gone really well. So had the next dinner. And the roller skating date after that. And now they were kind of boyfriends. Barry had slept over his apartment almost every day the week before, and Cisco had met his foster dad Joe and Barry’s best friend Iris. Who was absolutely gorgeous and maybe Cisco embarrassed himself trying to talk to her. Whatever. Not important.

  
Cisco quickly discovered it’s hard to consider yourself real, committed boyfriends if you keep having to run off and rob banks in the middle of a lovely afternoon, and of course having to keep that a big old secret from your kind of boyfriend. And then there was the problem of dating someone while you were kind of also flirting with your arch nemesis at those robberies.

  
Either way, he figured it was worth it. Wells was pleased with the havoc he was wreaking in Central City, and with the way he handled the Flash. Cisco had even gotten his own nickname in the newspapers. “Reverb” was pretty cool, as far as supervillain names went.

  
Of course, there was the fact that even with his illegal extra credit, it was insanely hard to  
balance his schoolwork with everything. If he wasn’t robbing banks or hanging out with his kind of boyfriend, he was studying and writing papers. He should have found a sidekick, that was a fact that was becoming abundantly clear. Or maybe hired someone to do all his homework.

  
And on top of all that, here he was, in the middle of _another_ heist, with about four bags of jewelry in his hands (and one stunning enamel music box that he was thinking of giving to his mom for Christmas stuffed in his pocket), and a laser gun shoved in his face? And a very intimidating man on the other end of it.

  
“Hate to freeze you out of your own heist, but we’re going to be taking those.” The man sneered, gesturing with a nod at his loot bags, and then at the truly stunning woman and an extremely terrifying man approaching from his left. All armed with weird laser guns. And then it clicked.

  
“Oh, holy shit! You’re Captain Cold! And Golden Glider and Heatwave. Holy fuck, dude.” Cisco exclaimed, flipping his visor up to get a better look, tension leaving his body as he started to figure out what was going on. “Honestly, I see you on the news all the time, and you guys are much scarier in person. Wow. Did I...oh shit did I rob the place you were gonna rob? That’s awkward. Sorry. Um….. do you guys wanna split it? Normally I would turn it all over to the guy with the ice gun, but I kinda need proof I was successful, otherwise I don’t really get credit for it.”  
He trailed off, realizing he was rambling on. The members of the Rogues gallery were staring at him with varying levels of amusement. The woman was nearly laughing, and the big guy was glaring, but softer glaring than before. Maybe. Or maybe Cisco was projecting.

  
Cold holstered his gun, narrowing his eyes at the man in front of him. “I’m gonna be honest, I’m impressed. I’ve seen your work before, and your powers? Very useful. What’s your name, kid?” He asked, glancing at his partner with a meaningful look.

“Well the papers are calling me Reverb.” He said sheepishly, a bit embarrassed to actually  
introduce himself like that. It was actually a little ridiculous, and probably not something he would have chosen for himself. It was cool when you were reading it, or watching the news, but now, in front of these real supervillains, he felt like a little kid playing dress up.

  
Cold nodded, holding out his hand to shake. “Reverb. Not bad. You’ve had a helluvan audition. So, you wanna join the Rogues, kid?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cisco might have just gotten adopted.
> 
> Also sorry for not updating for a while. School has been crazy.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cisco meets an old classmate, and tries to be cool. He's not great at it.

     So, Cisco was in the Rogues Gallery, apparently. Captain Cold had left him with a business card and a brief "We'll call you." before taking their share of the diamonds and leaving. 

     He hadn't heard from them for weeks, and so he had put it out of his mind. He threw himself back into school work, and flirting with Barry, and occasionally battling the Flash just for shits and giggles. But the call eventually came. On his personal phone. He had no idea how they had found his number, but he wasn't about to ask as Golden Glider started rattling off an address and time for a meeting, before she hung up. Cisco wasn't really sure what the protocol was for supervillain meet ups. Did he wear his costume? Was it casual? Should he bring food? He had no clue. Eventually he just headed out in normal clothes, figuring he probably wouldn't need a disguise.

     Cisco had honestly been expecting a warehouse, so he was pretty surprised to find that the address was for a hotel. Where, judging by the lack of cars, didn't have any tenants. Which wasn't spooky at all. The door was unlocked, which was also definitely not spooky, and so he walked right in to an empty lobby. The front desk had a sticky note with his name on it, and a room number, with nothing else. Still super not spooky. Nope. 

     When he finally got to the room, he was starting to reconsider this whole fucking thing. What if Wells got angry with him for hanging with other villains? What if the Rogues actually wanted to kill him, and this was just a trap to get rid of any competition? He hovered outside the door, sincerely debating whether or not to just leave when a voice sounded from behind him. 

     "Cisco. Huh. I honestly didn't expect _you_ to be the new recruit."

     He turned with a jump, coming face to face with an old....friend? Rival? Crush? An old....classmate. "Hartley fucking Rathaway. Holy shit." He whispered, lowering his hands out of their defensive position. "You're with...I mean...Do you like....um.... Come here often?" He stammered out, causing Hartley to roll his eyes. 

     "If that's your super-casual way of asking if I'm a Rogue, then yes. If this is you trying to flirt, you're failing horribly." He laughed, reaching around Cisco to open the door. "Come on. Boss is waiting for you, _Reverb_."

* * *

     So apparently Hartley had been recruited about a year ago, after seizing the same "extra credit opportunity" as Cisco. Which explains why he switched schools after that. Cisco learned this after a very quick, very quiet interrogation before rushing into the hotel room and once again laying eyes on Captain Cold, who was perched on the top of the couch, like a very deadly cat. Glider wasn't there, but Heatwave was, using the small kitchen to....make eggs? Okay, this is just going to be a weird day, apparently.

     "Reverb. How nice to see you again. You should wear your hair down more often, I love the curls." Cold drawled, though his eyes were on Heatwave as he spoke. 

     "Oh! Thanks! I've been using this new shampoo and it's really working for me! It's got like, olive oil and honey and shit. I know you probably don't care but I ramble when I get nervous, and right now I'm extremely nervous because you guys are supervillains and even though I'm a supervillain also this might be some elaborate ploy to murder me or something." He breathed out in a rush, eyes wide as forced himself to shut up. 

     Cold's eyes flicked over to him finally, and it felt so much like being sized up by a lion that Cisco nearly pissed himself. The thief unfolded himself from his position on the couch and strode over to where the terrified college student stood. "Mr. Ramon. We aren't going to kill you." He said with a smirk, blue eyes softer than before. "We did a little digging after putting together your identity- you should stop showing your face to people- and found out you were a student of Dr. Wells, and very likely in the same situation as Hartley. Doing the dirty work for your teacher. Am I right?"

     Cisco nodded, less scared and back to being nervous. "Yeah, but so what? Why does that matter?" He asked, glancing at Heatwave, who was watching from the kitchen. 

     "You're barely more than a kid. He shouldn't be dragging you into this kind of shit. Plus he's a bad person. He doesn't just want money, or chaos. Eventually he'll ask you to kill, to destroy. And by that point you'll be in too deep to say no. This is your out, kid. Join the Rogues. We won't let him intimidate you, or threaten you into doing anything you don't want to. My partner and I keep our people safe, that I can promise you." Cold held out his hand to shake, tilting his head curiously. 

     It didn't take Cisco long to decide. He loved the thrill from the robberies, from the fights with the Flash. But he didn't want to hurt people. And he knew the Rogues' reputations. They never killed anyone, especially not innocents. He nodded once to himself before reaching out and shaking the hand offered to him. "Well, Captain Cold, you've got yourself a new Rogue."

     The older man snorted, dropping back to his seat on the couch. "Please. You're part of the team now. You can call me Len. That's Mick. We'll introduce you to everyone else later. Take a seat, we've still got a bit to discuss."

     Cisco gave him a bright, excited smile and sat down across from him. This had gone better than he could have hoped. He wouldn't be doing this criminal shit all by himself. He had a team now, people to help him, to support him.

     That was really all he wanted.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'M ALIVE!!!!! i'm so sorry lmao hopefully now that writer's block has left me it'll stay gone.
> 
> Also! I've decided Cisco and Hartley don't hate each other in this, since I think they would have bonded over being A) younger than most of their classmates and B) Gayer than most of their classmates


End file.
